Value of transactions made on cryptocurrencies to exceed $1 trillion in 2017

5 September 2017

According to the latest report issued by Juniper Research and titled The Future of Blockchain: Key Vertical Opportunities & Deployment Strategies 2017-2022, the volume of transactions made with the use of cryptocurrencies will exceed $1 trillion before the year end. The forecast figure will make up a 15 fold growth above the previous year.

In the first six months of 2017, the report notes, the value of transactions made on cryptocurrencies increased beyond $325 billion mainly on the heels of the growing popularity and price of Ethereum, accounting for 2/3 of the whole cryptocurrency value for that period.

The study further adds that Litecoin saw a sharp growth in value and volume, expecting the value of transactions to overpass $100 billion this year provided however that the current level is maintained.

While Bitcoin has dramatically surged to the value exceeding $4,000 in the wake of its hard fork launched at the beginning of last month dubbed Bitcoin Cash, the research expects that the new fork planned for November this year may lead to the cryptocurrency’s depreciation.

Dr Windsor Holden, an author of the study, comments saying there is no clear forecast for the future of Bitcoin in view of fundamental disagreements existing between Bitcoin miners and core developers over its further prospects. Such uncertainty may result in downward pressure on the currency’s valuation.